Teens May Fare Worse After Concussion Than Children or Adults

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TUESDAY, Feb.
28, 2012 (HealthDay News) — Teenagers who suffer a concussion
are more sensitive than adults or children to its aftereffects, Canadian
researchers report.

Concussions can affect
short-term memory in adolescents, which is essential for reading and
calculating, and those effects can last for six months or longer, the study
authors found.

"Contrary to the
belief by some parents and coaches that children can play through a concussion
because their brains are more resilient, we find that children are more
vulnerable to the effects of a brain injury than adults," said lead
researcher Dave Ellemberg, a neuropsychologist at the University of Montreal.

And, teenagers suffer
greater symptoms than either children or adults, he added.

"It's not that
surprising," Ellemberg noted. "We know the adolescent's brain, more
specifically the areas affected by the concussion, the frontal lobe areas of
the brain, are growing in spurts and when something is developing rapidly it is
even more fragile to injury."

The report was published
Feb. 28 in the journal Brain Injury.

To come to its conclusions,
Ellemberg's team worked with 96 male athletes who had suffered a concussion
three to nine months before testing. The athletes were divided into three
groups: adults (30), kids aged 9 to 12 (32) and teens aged 13 to 16 (34). These
athletes were then compared with similar people who had not had a concussion.

All of the study
participants were given neuropsychological tests used by the U.S. National
Hockey League. The researchers then compared the results of those tests with
the results of electrophysical evaluations that measured working memory,
attention and inhibition while participants worked on a computer. Electrophysical
tests are considered more sensitive than neuropsychological screens, the study
authors noted.

The researchers found all
the athletes who suffered concussions had results on their electrophysical
evaluations that indicated injurious effects, compared with similar people who
had not had a concussion.

Among teens, there were
also problems with short-term working memory that lasted six months to a year,
they noted.

"We find that most
concussions are similarly severe, whether or not there is loss of
consciousness," Ellemberg said.

Immediate symptoms after an
injury are not a way to know how a child is doing, he said. "You,
typically, have to wait for a couple of days, or even weeks, after the injury
to see the symptoms," Ellemberg explained. "Concussions are severe,
and do have consequences. We need to have a systematic system to evaluate these
children."

After a suspected
concussion, the child or teen should be seen by a medical professional who can
assess the patient and make a plan for when the child can go back to playing,
he said.

"We can't be afraid to
have our kids play sports.
We know that it's good for the child's physical health and mental health,"
Ellemberg stressed. "So, we want to encourage sports, but we want to make
sure that we do it in a safe way."

Teams need to have an adult
trained in what to do if a child has a concussion. In addition, an effort
should be made to eliminate violence and situations that can lead to
concussions, Ellemberg added.

Commenting on the study,
Gillian Hotz, director of the concussion program at the University of Miami
Miller School of Medicine, said that "kids have developing brains, so
issues may not show up until a year later when they are stressed to do more
frontal lobe activities."

Concussions are preventable,
she said, and there needs to be education about concussion directed to parents,
coaches and children. "Of course, wearing
helmets properly is important," Hotz noted, adding that more
communities are taking a proactive approach to dealing with concussions.

For example, high school
athletes in Miami are given tests of mental functioning before they can play.
These give professionals a baseline with which to compare their symptoms after
a concussion to see if there are changes, she explained.

These and other measure can
make a difference in identifying and treating concussions, Hotz said.

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